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Kerane Marcellus
Contributor

Kerane Marcellus is an editorial writer, copywriter, and digital creative. Her writing has been published in VICE publication, No Basic Girls Allowed, beauty publication Very Good Light, New York-based publication office Magazine, Sustainable Baddie, and Complex

5 Common Textured Hair Myths We Need to Move On From
Hair Education

5 Common Textured Hair Myths We Need to Move On From

The natural hair community, especially those who are all of YouTube, has used trial and error methods of what works best for textured hair. Over time from those lessons come the myths that still stayed around in the guise of being helpful when in reality, regardless of length, these myths don’t really do what you think is helpful. We’re here to debunk a few things to keep your textured tresses as healthy as possible. Here are the top five things to stop thinking about your textured hair so it can be the best it can be. Textured hair grows slowly. This is false; textured hair, even 4c if you subscribe to this hair-typing, grows about a half inch a month, just like most hair textures. Because textured hair can be tightly coiled and because of shrinkage seeing that growth may be hard to see but don’t be discouraged with your routine. If you’re getting the right about of moisture, eating high-protein foods, and not over-combing and brushing, you are perfectly fine. You shouldn’t wash your hair too often. Listen, I don’t know why this one is still around. Please wash your hair. This myth is most common when someone is starting to loc their hair. What most don’t know is that washing and moisturizing your hair will help the loc process go much more smoothly. This also comes out of the notion that textured hair doesn’t get greasy like looser textures, but that’s also false because our bodies naturally produce sebum in both our scalps and skin. Textured hair is coarse and hard to manage. Surely models know the struggle of this myth. Not many hairstylists know how to do textured hair properly, so the myth of it being difficult to do has been an ongoing thing. Even people with lots of textured hair have those thoughts at times, but with the right routine, it isn’t! Textured hair is stronger than looser textures. Textured hair is actually quite sensitive, so brushing hard from the roots to the ends is really bad for hair shafts and can cause breakage. Even if someone’s textured hair looks thick, it might not be. Coily textures tend to be on the thinner side and more prone to breakage when not properly moisturized. Even with protective styles like braids, faux locs, sew-ins, and so on, doing any of those too tight will cause severe breakage, especially around your edges and nape of the neck. Textured hair doesn’t need trims. Trimming your hair will, in fact, help you grow your hair. The ends of everyone’s hair gets the brunt of so many elements and tend to be the driest. It can get very, very thin if not moisturized properly, which is quite often. That’s why cutting them off to let the healthy parts of your hair thrive is so important. Who wants long hair if it doesn’t look healthy? Often times you won’t even see growth if you keep your dead ends because they are breaking off. Do yourself a favor and cut those ends by a professional; holding on to length won’t do your hair any good. 
Kerane Marcellus

August 15, 2024 - 2 min

What You Need to Know About the Crown Act.
Culture

What You Need to Know About the Crown Act.

The Crown Act stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, is a bill that advocates for Black people with textured hair to stop getting discriminated against in work and educational spaces. Hairstyles like braids, twists, locs, Bantu knots, cornrows, and Afros have been discriminated against to the point where people have not been able to go to school, get jobs or get fired from jobs or barred from competing in competitions, and so on. In the words of Toni Morrison, “the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.” Since there have been so many incidents of people being barred from completing tasks or learning, the Crown Act has been the solution to discrimination. The Crown Act is also challenging the notion of what is considered to be professionalism which is often equated to whiteness. Introduced in 2019 by Senator Holly Mitchell, the Crown Act has now been enacted into law in 18 states which include California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Connecticut, Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada, Nebraska, Oregon, Illinois, Maine, Tennessee, and Massachusetts. The hope is that the bill would be passed at a federal level if approved by the Senate, making it a law for all 50 states to protect Black people who wear their hair in natural hairstyles. Originally the Crown Act was passed solely in California and it was the first legislation passed to protect against hair discrimination — so big strides have been made, and it should keep going further. The impact of hair discrimination may have gone unnoticed for some time but what needs to be understood is that it can not only undermine a young person’s self-esteem but also shatter the opportunities and potential that Black people have and have had for centuries. In a study by Dove in 2019, co-founder of the Crown Act coalition, it says that hair discrimination can start as early as five years old and 100% of Black girls in majority white schools experience hair discrimination at 10 years old from detentions, suspensions, being asked to leave; the Crown Act is in place to protect against these exact experiences and ensures that they won’t happen again. Black people with textured hair have believed that to be deemed professional in corporate work spaces they would have to change their hair, whether it be to straighten it, cut it, or wear wigs in order to “fit in the office.” In the same study it was found that Black women’s hair was three times more likely to be seen as unprofessional. The importance of the Crown Act may seem trivial to some but again it’s a waste of many people’s time, Black people, to have to worry about the significance of their hair to other people’s subjection while just trying to learn or earn a living. It is now a vital source of protection and should be in place in all 50 states.
Kerane Marcellus

August 05, 2024 - 2 min